1010 REPORT— 1898. 



into the working' of their minds, the sentiments and ideas that affect them most 

 closely, their convictions of right and wrong, their sj'stems of law, the traditions 

 of the past that they cherish, and the rude accomplishments they possess ? If for 

 such a service investigators like Dr. Roth, who began his researches in Queensland 

 by so close a study of the languages and dialects of the people that he thoroughly 

 won their confidence, could be found, the public would soon learn the practical 

 value of anthropological research. If the considerations which I have endeavoured 

 to urge upon you should lead not only the scientific student but the community 

 at large to look upon that which is strange in the habits and ways of thinking 

 of uncivilised peoples as representing with more or less accuracy a stage in that 

 long continuity of mental progress without which civilised peoples would not be 

 what and where they are, it could not but favourably affect the principles and 

 practice of colonisation. Tout comprendre c' est tout pardonner. The more intimate 

 our acquaintance with the races we have to deal with and to subjugate, the more 

 we shall find what it means to stand with them on the same platform of common 

 humanity. If the object of government be, as it ought to be, the good of the 

 governed, it is for the governing race to fit itself for the task by laying to heart the 

 lessons and adopting the processes of practical anthropology. 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. 



The following Report and Papers were read : — 



1. Re'port on Mental and Physical Deviations in Child7'en. 

 See Reports, p. 691. 



2. On Human Life at Extreme Altitudes. By O. H. Howarth. 



The observations recorded by the author were made — («) throughout the great 

 mountain ranges of North America from Oregon to the south of Mexico, chiefly 

 within the last ten years, and {b) in the Great Andes, and in European ranges, at 

 earlier dates. 



The author emphasises the importance of the collection of evidence of human 

 settlement at very high altitudes in early times, due allowance being made for 

 subsequent geological changes of altitude. Stone carvings, for example, of the 

 earliest Central American types are found on the slopes of Popocatepetl, in Mexico, 

 at alritudes between 8,000 ieet and 10,000 feet. 



The primary causes wliich have induced human settlement at extreme altitudes 

 have been — (1) the pursuit of some local art or industry, which could not be fol- 

 lowed elsewhere ; (2) seclusion for religious purposes. Instances of both are not 

 infrequent in the great ranges of the West, from California to Guatemala, and in 

 the Cordillera of South America ; and several instances of the latter occur in 

 Mexico and Central America. 



Conditions favourable to the persistence of human life among natices of high 

 altitudes are— (1) immunity from certain diseases, especially of the respiratory 

 organs, phthisis and diphtheria being apparently imknown above 6,000 feet; 

 (2) the sedative effects of an attenuated atmosphere upon those who have been 

 habituated to it from birth ; (3) the preference for simple forms of nourishment 

 and an active life, which follows from the surrounding conditions ; (4) the pecu- 

 liarly transient effects of alcoholic and all other artificial stimulants ; (5) the sense 

 of intensified vitality due to more rapid respiration and heart-action, though this 

 may be at the expense of the duration of life. 



Against these advantages must be set — (1) a diminution of brain development, 

 which is transmittible and becomes very marked within three or four generations: 

 (2) the effects of isolation frequently accompanying such a life (these have lieen 

 noted in many parts of the American ranges, as well as in the Alps, and the 

 Great Atlas of North Africa); (3) certain modified forms of disease, -which seem 

 to be incidental to extreme altitudes. 



